London Called. ASS MAGIC answered
The London Marathon is one of those events that feels bigger when you experience it in person. Nearly 60 000 runners(a new record in itself), crowds of reportedly 800 000 fans lining the streets and an atmosphere that is difficult to describe until you’ve experienced it in person. Add in this year’s incredible performances at the front of the race and it really felt like something special to be part of.
For ASS MAGIC, exhibiting at the London Marathon Running Show was a big milestone. Taking our South African-born brand to one of the world’s biggest running events is something we are incredibly proud of.
Of course, getting there is never as simple as just pitching up with a stand. International exhibitions come with a number of moving parts. Visas, flights, accommodation, shipping stock and displays across the world and the constant stress of hoping everything arrives on time. We’ve been on the receiving end of lost exhibition stands before to know not to take anything for granted.
This time around, thankfully, things mostly went smoothly. Although the day before the expo did involve me walking a few kilometres around loading zones at the ExCel centre trying to track down our delivery truck after some communication issues with local SIM cards. You can get a lot done from being friendly, polite and just smiling.
The doors opened on the first morning and the excitement of being there was quickly overshadowed by the fact that we had only sold two products by lunch time on the first day.
“Sh!t we’re going to be in a big hole here.” I thought to myself.
Time to take a step back, reassess and try different approaches. Being in a new market means that just about no one knows who we are, so every interaction matters. The beauty of a show at this scale is that there are enough people coming through to test different pitches, adjust on the fly and quickly work out what resonates and what doesn’t.
One of the best parts of the show was seeing people’s reactions to the brand. The ASS MAGIC name still gets plenty of laughs, smiles and double takes, but what stood out was how quickly people realised there is a genuinely serious product behind the humour. Our name also helped us get on the radar of two British comedians Elis James and John Robbins, give a listen to the first 15mins of this podcast for a good laugh
Over the four days we spent countless hours chatting to runners, hearing race stories, discussing chafing issues (yes we’ve heard it all) and introducing people to the products through live demos. One thing that worked particularly well was applying the Anti-Chafe Balm directly onto the back of people’s hands so they could actually feel the texture for themselves. The response was overwhelmingly positive.
By the end of the show, we had met runners from all over the world, connected with potential ambassadors and athletes, and sold a significant amount of product.
It was a long, physically demanding week with very little downtime, but walking through the expo and seeing people taking ASS MAGIC products home and featuring us in their social media posts, made us realise that we might have a space at this table.
From a small South African brand to the London Marathon stage, this one was pretty special.
And yes…we’ll be back.
- Chris Wolhuter, the ASS MAGICIAN
